What is AARHUS |BY| AARHUS?

AARHUS |BY| AARHUS is a fantastic photobook, a joint portrait of Aarhus from Aarhus and to Aarhus. (Buy the book here).
The special thing about the book is that it is created by the citizens of Aarhus and the vigilant photographers in an impressive crowdsourcing campaign.

7.332 photographsThe campaign was launched on March 31st, 2017 and ran until May 1st, same year. Here 7.332 photos were submitted by hundreds of photographers – both the beautiful from single-reflex cameras or perhaps the funny selfies snapped with the phone.
The book was published in 2018, the year after Aarhus European Capital of Culture 2017, with a foreword from Aarhus Mayor Jacob Bundsgaard. It is a loving and beautiful portrait of Aarhus – captured by the city itself. Everyone could participate – just using a special hashtag (#aarhusfoto2017) on Instagram and Facebook.

Five black-white photographs in an envelopeSome photos were uploaded directly to the webpage, others were sent in e-mails to us and a very special series of B/W photos were delivered in an envelope directly to chib press. They were taken in 1963 and 1975!
The book is an aesthetically beautiful and ultra-luxurious top-quality coffee table book about and by Aarhus. A self-portrait of the most beautiful, best, most special and important corners or details – all collected in a visual portrait of Aarhus. An impressive “carte de visite” from Aarhus to both our self and the world.

100% non-profitBehind the project, which is 100% non-profit, are the two local enthusiasts Anders Grønborg and Chresten Heesgård Ibsen from respectively LaserTryk.dk and chib press. You can follow the accounting online here.
There are 411 photographs collected in the book. 300 of these were carefully selected by a professional jury consisting of three skilled and acknowledged photographers from Aarhus. Press photographer Alex Schütt from Aarhus Stiftstidende, art photographer Britta Egebjerg (especially known for her series ‘Når himlen vælter ind over land’) and photo-experimentalist Ukendt Aarhus. Already at the crowdsourcing launch, March 31st, over 2.056 photographs had been tagged with the hashtag on Instagram!

The people’s art as a giftThe essence of AARHUS |BY| AARHUS is that it is not supposed to be an elitist art project but rather the people’s own photo-project. With the project, we hope to show each other – and everyone with a lust to know more about Aarhus, what it is that we love about the city. The book is also thought of as a gift from the city so that cultural tourists can bring a little bit of Aarhus home with them. As an opportunity for the Aarhusians, with their own lenses, to rethink, revisit and recreate the city. For the very same reason, the book is translated into English and Chinese. The city’s artistic ownership becomes unique to the book – and unique to the cultural industry. We are proud to have succeeded in creating a book about and to Aarhus – along with other Aarhusians.